Shatter the Sun
by Hero of the Dark
Summary: Four Towers is a school for bad kids, but what kind of school for bad kids teaches them how to use their criminal abilities? A certian group of students would like to know. Oldrival, special, frantic, soulsilver, mangaquest, commoner, agency.
1. Chapter 1: The Gray Bus of Doom

**Hello, everybody! Remember me? Now before all you lovely fans go completely nuts I wish to tell you this: I'm not staying permanently. I was sitting in my room one day when I thought to myself that I should make a final story for wonderful ff dot net! And thus, this puppy appeared! *points at golden retriever puppy* so I held the puppy and I came up with the idea for this story. Now, it's time for everyone's favorite time of the day: the disclaimer! Silver, do the disclaimer!**

**Silver: No. **

**Me: *whispers in his ear***

**Silver: *face turns redder then his hair* Hero of the Dark does not own Pokemon, Soul's hat camera and is not "the queen of thievery, trickery, and matchmaking." But she does own Four Towers *runs away***

**The Bizarre Journey to Four Towers**

**Or**

**The Gray Bus of Doom**

**(Soul's POV)**

Everybody says that Four Towers is the boarding school where parents send children with problems they don't feel like dealing with. So why, I couldn't help but despair, was I being sent there on a gray metal buss filled with mean-looking children. Last I checked carrying around a camera in a big, puffy white hat wasn't a crime! Okay so maybe I was taking sneaky pictures of people and putting them in the school newspaper which _may_ be a crime but nobody bothered to tell me that!

I looked at the girl who was sitting next to me on the gray bus. "So, why are you here?" I asked, trying to start a conversation.

The girl turned around but -whoops- it wasn't a girl. He should really cut the shoulder length red hair. "None of your business." He growled and resumed looking out the window.

Geeze, what a grouch. I glanced around the bus, hoping to spot a friendlier student. There were a few decent-looking students here and there but no one who looked really approachable. For example there was a girl with light, long brown hair in a blue top and short red skirt. She was smiling and giggling, but something about her screamed "hug me and I'll steal your wallet." I'd rather talk with the ginger dude. He gave off the "hug me and I'll beat you senseless" vibe.

So I pretty much sat there and fidgeted for about an hour. Then my fidgeting turned into shivering as the temperature went down about fifty degrees as the sun set. I sat there wishing I had worn pants instead of overalls when I felt something being placed around my shoulders. I looked up and saw with surprise that the ginger dude had draped his jacket on me.

I smiled. "Thanks. That was really nice. I'm Soul, by the way." I extended a hand.

He scowled. "Your shivering was annoying." He glared at my outstretched hand until I pulled it back. "My name is Silver." With that he resumed looking out the window.

Silver, huh? Well Silver be prepared: Soul will remove from your shell because you revealed to her that you have a heart! Mwahahaha! I noticed that said boy was staring at me. "I have got to remember to only laugh evilly in my head!" I scolded myself.

**(Red's POV)**

When I thought of what the kids on the Four Towers bus would be like scared, blonde, and adorable weren't the first traits that came to mind. But nevertheless I found a tiny girl in the back of the bus who looked like she was about to have a heart attack. She looked up at me with big, frightened eyes and my heart melted in about point two seconds. So here I was in the back corner of the bus with a girl named Yellow, who had no idea what on earth she had done to end up here.

I was telling her about my dog, Pika, when a girl in a blue top and a short red skirt skipped over to us. "What are you two up to?" She asked, batting her eyelashes.

"Talking" I said while Yellow hid behind me.

"Well aren't you two just adorable!" She cooed. "You know what, I like you so I'm not gonna rob you. Bye!" She skipped off.

We stared at the space where she had been standing for a moment. "Did she just…?" Yellow said.

"Openly admit she was going to rob us? Yes."

**(Blue's POV)**

I skipped off from the startled looking pair. They were adorable! Yes, the amazing and all-powerful matchmaking Blue has returned! I haven't even reached the school and I already found an adorable possible couple. This must be a special pair. That's it! I'll call this new pairing specialshipping!

Only half paying attention I slipped my hand in a boy's pocket, grabbing hold of his wallet only to have my hand slapped. I recoiled in shock. Nobody caught me! I was only here because the police blamed me for a minor crime I didn't do.

I stared at the boy who had evaded the capture of his money. His hair was spiky and he was glaring at me. "Keep your hands to yourself, pesky thief." He growled and walked off.

I fumed for a few seconds. Nobody beats me! I am the queen of thievery, trickery, and matchmaking! I. Don't. LOOSE!

**What do you think? I know it's kinda short but I'm working on it. I've made it my personal mission to see this story through to the end, despite my long history of giving up five chapters in. There will be a mystery later on in the story, and there are still many characters and pairing to introduce, so don't worry about that!**

**-Hero of the Dark**


	2. Chapter 2: A Frantic Fight!

***Bows* I am making it my personal mission to update as often as possible! And to remember to revise multiple times, the first chapter was failure! Anyways I want to personally thank xxxDreamingflowerxxx for being this story's first reviewer! You rock! And yes, I suppose Blue is a bit nutty but she's happy. After all she has discovered two people to shove together while they protest with bright red faces! Why wouldn't she be happy? And I can't say I have all the reasons for their attendance figured out but I'm pretty creative so expect the unexpected! Now for the disclaimer! Crystal, as you are the star of this episode you get to do the disclaimer! I like exclamation marks!**

**Crystal: uh…okay? Hero of the Dark does not own pokemon, video cameras, or the term "broken coffee tables" but she does own Four Towers and the coffee table Sapphire broke. Not that it's worth much anymore.**

**The Nicest School for Criminals. Ever.**

**or**

**A Frantic Fight in Our New Living Room!**

**(Sapphire's POV)**

Stupid.

Freaking.

SCHOOL!

I slammed my fist into the wall of the room, leaving a noticeable dent. After we had been on that stupid bus for about two hours the adults on the bus (who were separated from us by a metal wall) sent out a big tray of sandwiches. I had eaten about three of those sandwiches before I realized they were drugged.

When I woke up I had been lying on a large couch with a warm but rather heavy blanket on me. Then I opened my eyes and realized it wasn't a blanket: whoever had brought me in here had tossed a boy on top of me! What kind of sicko does that? So I flung him off, got up, and punched the wall.

That brings me to the current situation of said boy staring at me in disgust. For a few minutes he stared at me in silence while I decided what I thought he was going to say. "You're clothes are disgusting! Do you not have any self respect?"

That wasn't it. "I just flung ya' across the room and punched the wall and the first thing you say is "you're clothes are disgusting? What kind of sorry juvenile delinquent are you, ya sissy?"

"I'm not a juvenile delinquent unlike you, you unfashionable barbarian!" He protested, standing up and walking over to me.

"Then why are you here, ya oversized brat?

"Like you should talk, beast of the jungle!"

"Snotty wimp!"

"Disgusting animal!"

"Sissy boy!"

"Wild girl!"

"Wow, I never knew putting you on the same couch would yield such good results!" We turned and saw a girl with long brown hair and a video camera standing in the doorway.

Sissy Boy blinked in shock, then said. "We were on the same couch?" Again, not what I was expecting.

"Why do you think she flung you across the room?' The girl said. That was when I noticed that the light on the side of the video camera was blinking.

"Gimmie the camera!" I shrieked, and jumped at her.

I guess she was surprised I had caught on that quickly and I managed to jerk the camera from her hands before she had a chance to recover. "Why were ya recording us?" I demanded.

"Because this is good drama!" She replied, reaching for the camera only for me to toss it to Sissy Boy.

"I was fighten' an idiot. There ain't anything dramatic about it!" I shouted while Sissy Boy fumbled with the camera.

"I beg to differ" the girl said and grabbed the camera from Sissy Boy. She pouted "aw, why did you have to delete the video?"

"Because it would ruin my reputation! What kind of barbarian gets into that kind of argument two seconds after meeting a person?"

"You do realize a reputation as a sissy boy ain't gonna help you none at this school, right?"

"Well I still have standards! I will not let this school's reputation ruin mine!"

I snorted. "Good luck, Sissy Boy."

"My name is Ruby."

I stared at him. "That's a girl's name."

"And I'm sure yours is so much better."

"I'm Sapphire."

"…okay, you win."

I smirk. "Told ya. You can't do nothing better than me, sissy boy!

"I'm pretty sure I can sew a whole lot better than you."

"Why would I wanna do that?"

**(Crystal's POV)**

I came downstairs to the sound of two teenagers fighting in the living room and a girl recording them with a video camera in the doorway. "I won't let them delete it this time" she said, looking determined.

"Um…what are you doing?"

"Hush!" The girl said. "This is the second of many fights between this lovely pairing and I don't want to miss a moment of it!"

I couldn't help but wonder what was so appealing about watching two teens yell at each other.

I walked over and looked into the living room, instantly seeing what the girl found so interesting. When I had first heard the voices I thought both belonged to girls, but apparently I was wrong. The oddest thing was that the fashion-aware one was the boy, while the wild child was the girl. There were complete opposites of each-

Oh.

Apparently this girl was a matchmaker, and she had decided these two would be an excellent match. I'm a little concerned about her methods considering the current state of what I'm assuming is the living room. Then there was the fact their argument was increasing in volume. I heard a scream and stared as the girl picked up the coffee table and began to chase the boy around the room with it.

"What's going on down here?" I turned around to see a boy with spiky black hair rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

The girl's eyes lit up instantly. "Red! Is Yellow here, too?"

The black haired boy, Red, stared at her for a minute. "Uh…I don't know, Blue. But this is a pretty big house so maybe."

"She's a special girl isn't she, Red?" Blue said, talking and recording the fight going on in the living room at the same time.

"Well, yeah. But isn't everyone special?" He smiled. Then he noticed us and frowned. "Don't hug her, she'll rob you blind." Blue pouted.

I nodded. "Thanks." I heard another scream and turned to see the girl had the boy in a headlock and the coffee table lay in pieces. "We should probably stop them…" I said. Red nodded in agreement.

Blue sighed. "Fine." She closed the video camera and walked into the living room, me and Red following behind.

The girl was chasing the boy around the room when we entered. "Calm down!" Red yelled and grabbed the girl by the arms. I expected him to get dragged along like a rag doll but he managed to dig his heels into the ground and lower the girls speed to a point at which there was no chance of her catching the boy. Pretty impressive.

Knowing there wasn't any chance she would catch them boy, they stopped their argument long enough for everyone to sit down and for me and Red to sit between them. "So I think we should go around and introduce ourselves." I said, trying to give us something to do other than murder each other and hide out in hallways.

"Hold on, I better go see if there's any other member of our house!" Blue quickly darted out of the room. So we sat there in an awkward silence with little to do other than to be very grateful Red and I thought of sitting in between the two or we probably would have had to break up multiple fights by this point.

A few minutes later Blue came down the stairs with two other teens in tow. The first one was tiny with a long blonde ponytail. The boy had short brown hair in a style similar to Red's and his eyes were cheerful and friendly. Okay, how come all the children sent to the school for bad kids seem really nice?

"Red look, I found Yellow!" Blue said, beaming. Then she turned and looked at me. "Can Yellow sit there?"

The small girl, Yellow I guess, shook her head. "I-it's okay. You don't need to get up."

I shrugged. "I don't have a problem with it." So I got up and sat in the chair nearest the somewhat violent girl while the boy Blue had dragged downstairs sat at the other end of the couch and Blue took the chair next to him. "Thank you" Yellow said, and sat down next to Red.

"Now it's time for introductions! She'll start." Blue pointed at me.

I shifted in my seat. "My name is Crystal and I'm sixteen years old. I got sent here for kicking someone in the head and I swear I didn't mean to crack their skull!" Nobody seemed surprised, they just turned to the wild girl on the couch.

"I'm Sapphire and I'm sixteen years old. I got sent here for dropping a boy from a tree. He didn't die, but it broke most of his bones." She crossed her arms and glared at all of us.

"I'm Red and I'm seventeen years old. I got sent here for stealing somebody's bike, which looked exactly like mine. I thought I had messed up the lock so I broke it off and rode away." He looked sheepish.

"I'm Yellow and I'm seventeen. I got sent here for being caught sneaking around in the school air vents with a sack full of books. I wasn't stealing the books but they thought I was." Her voice was quiet and she half hid behind Red while she spoke. I have to say considering this school's reputation out of all of that the most surprising was her age.

"I'm Ruby and I'm sixteen. I got sent here for refusing to do what my Dad wanted me to do and jabbing him in the eye with a sewing needle." He was too busy trying to fix a tear in his shirt with a mini sewing kit to really pay attention. "I can't believe that barbarian ripped my new shirt!" he muttered to himself.

"I'm Black and I'm fifteen years old! I got sent here for getting expelled from my old school! The Principal said I talked constantly and never listen to what the teachers are saying but I don't what they're talking about!" I think I do. Everybody's ears were ringing after that intro.

"I'm Blue and it appears I'm the only true villain of the bunch. So exciting!" She giggled. "The cops think I helped a group of thieves get away from a bank robbery, but I didn't. I'm an experienced pickpocket and I've stolen about one hundred thousand dollars worth since I started. But don't tell anyone!" Note to self: watch out for Blue. But I guess she's figured out being a tattle tale at this school will get you killed so she doesn't feel like she's risking anything.

"So…now what?" I asked after everyone had finished introducing themselves.

Red shrugged. "I guess we could watch TV or something." Everyone turned to look at the high-def, plasma flat screen that was one of the few things Sapphire and Ruby had left alone.

"I expected stiff beds in a long dorm room with 5 o'clock wake up calls." Black said, voicing what all of us were thinking.

Ruby shrugged. "I'm just glad they didn't take my lovely clothing!" He had finished sewing up the rip and was now happily hugging himself.

"Weirdo" Sapphire said, glaring at him from the other side of the couch. This was followed by Red making a point of blocking her from Ruby's line of vision.

Blue picked up the remote up off the floor and turned on the television.

For a second the screen was blank, then a woman in a casual attire with curly hair popped up on the screen. "Students, I welcome you to Four Towers." She was young and pretty, with a smile that reached across her entire face. "School will start in four days time. Until then use the map and school guide located in the drawer under the television to tour the campus and enjoy yourselves!" Then the screen turned to Animal Planet.

We all stared at the television. "This is a school for criminal children and the first thing they tell you is that school doesn't start for four days and to enjoy ourselves?" I asked.

"At least they seem nice." Yellow said, still trying her best to hide behind Red.

"Best. School. Ever! Now let's learn all about this place!" Blue skipped over to the cabinet under the television and pulled out a thin hardcover book and large folded map. She sat back in her chair and we all watched as she opened the guide. "Intro, why you are here, school rules." Blue flipped through the pages. "Aha! Living arrangements." She began to read.

"The living quarters are divided into various circles placed throughout the campus. The circle is a large stone circle edged with evenly placed large houses prepared for the use of their inhabitants. There are five students per house and four houses per circle. Each circle and house has their own name, which are placed on the door of the house and the gate to the circle. Along with staff only the inhabitants of the circle will be provided with keys to the circle and only the members of a house will be provided with keys to the house. The keys are located on the back of the front door of the house." Blue closed the book. "That's the gist of it. Let's go get our keys and look around!" She raced to the entry hall, reaching the door first.

There were five gold keys and four silver keys in a bag attached to the door when we reached it. The silver keys were marked "house" and the gold ones were marked "gate." We took one of both.

"I'm gonna go introduce myself to the neighbors!" Black shouted and ran out the front door, leaving everybody's ears ringing once again.

So much for anyone in this circle getting any more sleep.

***bows to the furious applause* I'm hoping this one is much better, being nine pages long and having been revised multiple times. I'm sure Crystal was right about no one getting any more sleep. I bet that might annoy a lot of people, a young businesswoman, for one. **

**Black: *yelling* Why that person in particular?**

**Me: Ow, my ears! I just glasses and now I need hearing aids! Thanks a lot, Black!**

**-Hero of the Dark**


	3. Chapter 3: Adventures in a Thunderstorm

**I'm back! An interesting thing happened yesterday. I went the doctor and she asked me what the heck I did to my ears. *glares pointedly at Black***

**Black: What did I do?**

**Me: At least you're not yelling anymore. Now as punishment, you have to do the disclaimer!**

**Black: Alright! *yelling* Hero of the Dark does not own Pokemon or any related products but she does own Four Towers and all related products excluding the staff and students!**

**Everyone Within a 50 Mile Radius: Ow, my ears!**

**Adventures in a Thunderstorm**

**or**

**The Fateful Meeting of Black and White!**

**(White's POV)**

The bed I was laying in was warm, soft, and oh so comfy. Everything seemed perfect until-

"Hello members of our circle!" The voice was so loud that I jumped into the air, slamming my head into the ceiling. Arguh! I wanted more sleep after the other members of my house dragged me downstairs for introductions!

Rubbing my sore head I stormed over to the window and slammed it open. "Could you please keep it down!" I yelled.

The boy who was making a huge racket looked up at me. He was admittedly cute and there was a spark in his eye that was hard to find. He would be good in a teen romance film. If they wouldn't take to him immediately I could help him build fame through game station commercials. I blinked a few times, realizing what I was thinking. I shook my head. _Give it up, White. The Snow White Agency is through._

The boy was looking up at me with concern "are you all right? You look a little ill."

"No, I'm fine. I'm on the second floor so you probably can't see me very well." I replied, kind of enjoying yelling back and forth.

"Just go downstairs and talk to the dude! My ears hurt!" one of my housemates, Pearl, called from down the hall.

I blushed with embarrassment. Pearl had seemed immune to noise this morning which meant I was being very loud. I looked down at the boy. "I'll be down in just a minute, okay?"

"Okay!" He shouted. I'm going to be deaf by this evening.

I closed the window and began looking for my clothes. _Just because my career is ruined is no excuse to go out dressed like this _I thought and began digging around in my suitcase. I decided on a pair of shorts and a white t-shirt under a simple black vest. I pulled my hair up into my signature high ponytail and dabbed my face with makeup. I grabbed my shoulder bag and headed downstairs.

I found the boy sitting on our house porch, tossing stones in the air. That was when it struck me that I was planning to go around a school for juvenile delinquents with a boy I didn't know. I was taking a step back towards the door when he spotted me. He grinned and darted over. "You came!" He had lowered his voice, thank goodness.

"Uh…yeah, I did. How did you end up here?" Okay so it was a little blunt but I wanted to make sure I wasn't going around with a pickpocket or a street thug or worse.

He grinned at me, not bothered at all. "I got expelled from my school because the teachers said I talked too much and was really loud."

My shoulders slumped in relief. Considering how loud he yelled I wasn't surprised and doubted he was lying. I held out a hand "I'm White."

"I'm Black." He shook my hand so hard that I'm sure he nearly dislocated my shoulder. "So you want to go say hello to the other members of our circle?"

I noticed that most of the houses around us had their lights out despite the sun being high in the sky. "How about we just look around for a bit? We can say hello later." And our neighbors can thank me later.

Black grinned. "Whatever you say, White!"

So we headed toward the door of the large, iron gate that surrounded the entire circle. As we walked we passed a girl with long brown hair standing on the porch of one of the houses. She was watching us like a wolf watches an injured gazelle. I nudged Black.

"Uh…who's the scary girl who looks like she wants to eat us?" I asked the boy, unable to keep my voice from wavering a little.

He looked over to where I was trying to discreetly point and failing miserably. He smiled at me again. "That's Blue. She's a pickpocket so don't hug her, but other than that she's perfectly harmless. I think." I sighed mentally. I'm going to have to watch both our backs, aren't I?

Blue grinned like a shark and slipped back inside the house.

**(Ruby's POV)**

"Why on earth were you scaring that poor girl? She's the first fashion aware person I've seen here!"

"What about me?" Blue asked, pouting.

"You threw me on a couch with the barbarian so you don't count." We were in the living room which turned out to have a large window. It was through that window that I had watched Blue nearly give the blessedly fashion aware girl a heart attack.

"But you two just looked so cute! If it makes you feel any better I would've done Red and Yellow if I'd found them first."

"Nothing about that girl is even the slightest bit attractive! Thank goodness she's already left. And no that does not make me feel any better. Now will you please tell me why you scared her?"

"To get her closer to Black, of course! When I first came to this school I never expected to find so many good shippings!"

"You scared her out of her wits so Black could comfort her and make her feel better?"

"And so she'll stick with them for the rest of their date!"

"Aren't they just going to look around the campus?"

"Not if I have anything to do with it!" She got up and walked over to the door.

"Where are you going?" I shouted after her.

"To find someone to help me spy on them! You're too easily spotted!" Blue's words were followed by the front door being slammed shut.

I stared at the spot where she had been standing for a moment. I sighed in exasperation and dug around in my pocket for my cell phone, hoping to give Black and White an early warning. I froze when all I felt in the pocket that was supposed to have my wallet and cell phone was a slip of paper. With a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach I pulled it out and read the horrifying message.

_I forgot to mention that I took your wallet and cell phone! Oops! But I couldn't have you tattling on me to Black and White, it would ruin all the fun! Don't worry I'll give them back to you later._

_-Blue_

**(Blue's POV)**

Ruby is going to get such a shock! I snickered as I stuffed his wallet and cell phone in my pocket. I looked around for a minute and noticed a boy with spiky brown hair standing on one of the porches. It was the by who had stopped me from robbing him! "You!" I shouted.

He glared at me. "What do you want, pesky thief?"

If I tried to walk away I would look bad, so I went with the first plan that came to mind. "You're going to help me spy on one of my shippings! Now come on!" So I stormed over to him, grabbed him by the wrist, and dragged him out of the circle.

**(White's POV)**

Ever since I saw Blue I've been a little freaked out. The fact that our circle was located in a forest wasn't helping and I kept jumping at shadows. Black was…concerned, to say the least.

"Are you sure you don't want to go back? We can look around another time."

"Back to the tiger's den? Are you craz-ah!" I shrieked as lightning lit up the sky and big, fat raindrops started to fall down. Just my luck it would start storming.

But Black still held that giant, genuine smile. "That came on suddenly. Come on, we better find cover!" He grabbed me by the hand and led me off the path. Again my suspicion that he wasn't genuine appeared, but I ignored it and followed him into the forest.

By the time we found a cave to hide in we were both soaking wet. Black was muddy from when he had tripped, but he was still grinning. I just don't understand his cheerfulness. "W-why are you grinning?" I asked as I sat on the cold cave floor, unable to stop myself from shivering.

"Because that was fun!" There was laughter in his voice.

"H-how was th-that fun? We're soaking wet and your pants are covered in mud!"

"So?" he pulled off his jacket, reveling the black t-shirt underneath was completely dry. "My jacket is water proof!" He looked at me, concern softening his eyes. "But you're freezing." He said, and placed the jacket on my shoulders.

I took the edges of the jacket and wrapped it tighter around myself. It smelled like cinnamon, books, and was pleasantly warm. "Thanks, Black." I said. "But aren't you cold?"

"I'm fine." He grinned at me again. "So what are you doing at this school, anyways?"

I looked towards the ground. "I don't want to talk about it." Black seemed to be nothing but kind, but I had only met him today. There was no way I could tell him.

Eventually I noticed that Black was shivering, despite the fact he was trying hard to hide it. I tried to pull his jacket off and give it back to him, but he placed his hand on the shoulder, preventing me from taking it off. "Don't." He said. "You need it more than I do."

"I'm not the one who's shivering."

"I'll be fine. You're still wet."

So I scooted up close to him, hoping my body heat might warm him up a little if he wouldn't take his nice, warm jacket back.

**(Blue's POV)**

"They are so cute!" I squealed softly, watching Black and White from the back of the cave. Me and Green, the boy who had avoided being robbed, had found it first and hidden when they came in. It turns out that Green is a pretty useful partner in crime. I'll have to drag him along again some time.

"Pesky woman." Once I had made him my partner in this endeavor he started calling me "pesky woman" instead of "pesky thief." I could come up with better nicknames, but they're still cute! Now if I could only find a person to pair Green with then everything would be right in the world.

"This is going to be so easy." I said as I watched White scoot over to Black. I took out a small no-flash camera and snapped a photo.

Green rolled his eyes. "How did I let you drag me into this?"

**It's been a while since I updated, I know! But I only had one review so I didn't think people liked this story. Then I looked at my traffic and found this story had three alerts and one favorite. So if you like this story, please review! And yes, it is a bit shorter then the previous one, and perhaps not as good. But it's an okay chapter, and I'm already string to pull all the pieces into place. If there's any particular character/pairing you would like to see in the next chapter, just put it in your review.**

**-Hero of the Dark**


	4. Chapter 4: How to Break a Candy Shell!

**My latest chapter got four reviews within 24 hours, all of them praising my writing! Thank you all so much! Among those glorious reviews were two requests for soulsilvershipping, one request for mangaquestshipping, and a request for some slight oldrivalshipping. I shall do it all! **

**Dexholders: *gasp dramatically***

**Blue: (in the sweet voice that means she wants something) what's oldrivalshipping?**

**Me: Uh…Blue, do the disclaimer!**

**Blue: Alright but then I'll make you tell me. Hero of the Dark does not own Pokemon or any of its characters but she does own ****Four****Towers****. *turns to me* Now tell m- what?**

**Me: *ran off once Blue was distracted. Is writing this in ****Canada*******

**Cocky Boys of Skateboards. Joy. **

**or**

**How to Break Through a Hard Candy Shell! **

**(****Crystal****'s POV)**

I ended up leaving the house a few hours after Black due to the storm and as soon as I did I almost ran face first into a girl in a large white hat. "Soul?" I said in shock.

She turned to face me. "Oh, hi! Crystal, right? We used to go to school together!" She said, giving me a friendly smile.

"Apparently we still do. I knew your secret pictures were a crime of sorts but I certainly didn't expect to see you here!"

"Forget me, how did you get here?"

"I kicked some boy in the skull and it cracked. He's still in the hospital."

"Wow. I heard that you kicked hard but not that hard!"

"I didn't think it would crack his skull, but he was annoying and kind of deserved a kick to the head."

"Joey Moon, right?"

"That's the one."

"He's sustained worse from his stupid attempts at bad boy-ness. What other kinds of people can't you stand?"

"Flirts and perverts. God I can't stand perverts. Cocky boys on skateboards are nearly as bad and don't even get me started on gamblers."

"What would you do if you met a flirty, perverted, cocky boy who rode a skateboard and liked to gamble?"

I looked at her blankly for a moment then said. "Someone would die."

Soul appeared thoughtful for a minute, then grinned at me. "One of my housemates went into town earlier, I think we should go find him."

"Why?"

"Don't ask questions!" With that Soul ran out of the circle with me following in hot pursuit.

**(Gold's POV)**

"Come on Sil, at that pace you couldn't outrun a snail." I complained to my long time rival, gliding along on my skateboard.

"I don't care." Silver replied, continuing to walk at the pace of a slug.

"You know you want to let your inner speed demon loose." This time Silver didn't even say anything, he just glared at me.

"Hey, Gold!" A familiar voice called.

I turned around on my skateboard to see Soul, one of my housemates, running towards us with another pretty girl by her side. "Hey Sil, we've attracted some attention." Silver turned around and stood with his arms crossed as the girls ran up to us.

The girls reached us quickly. Soul was panting heavily but the girl next to her didn't look bothered at all. I bet it had to do with those long legs of hers. Once Soul caught her breath she said to me. "Can you believe this place has its own town? Gold I want you to meetCrystal. She's another member of our circle who can't stand gamblers, flirts, perverts, and cocky boys on skateboards. So I thought she should meet you."

I smirked. "Is that so?" I hopped off my skateboard and landed in front of her. "I guess all the attention she got from those legs of hers got annoying after a while, huh?"

Crystalscowled and flung her leg towards mine at a frightening speed. I barely had time to jump into the air as her leg flied beneath me in a gruesome version of jump rope. Before she had time to recover I landed, kissed her on the nose, and hopped back on my skateboard. "Learn to live a little, Super Serious Gal!" I teased and sped away, watching her out of the corner of my eye.

She stood there for a second, stunned. Then her face flushed red with anger and she started to chase me screaming "Gold you annoying little punk! I'm going to tear off all your limbs one by one!"

**(Soul's POV)**

I snapped a picture asCrystalran after Gold, shouting insults and threats at the top of her lungs. I turned to the red head boy that had been with Gold and couldn't help but grin at my good luck. "Silver!"

His face remained emotionless. "You did that on purpose." It wasn't a question.

"Maybe…" I said, slowly. "But at least this way Gold will have someone to pester who isn't you!"

"I get the feeling that when he's leaving me alone, you'll be pestering me."

"Not pestering! Helping!"

"Why would I need your help?"

"To melt your heart of ice! You're like one of those candies with a hard shell and a gooey center. Mmmm…candy."

Silver gave me an annoyed glare and started to walk off. "Hey!" I shouted, and began to walk after him. "I'm not finished with you!"

"But I'm finished with you." He said, not even bothering to raise his voice.

"No you're not! I'm going to make you a social person if I have to recruit the matchmaking pickpocket fromCrystal's house to find you a girlfriend!"

Silver froze. "There's a matchmaking pickpocket in our circle?"

"Yeah."

"Brown hair, blue eyes, 17 years old?"

"I think so. Why?"

"I know her." To most people Silver would still seem bored, but I easily spotted the tiny light of shock and delight hidden in the corner of his left eye.

"Well we could go and see if she's still in the circle."

"Whatever." With that Silver started walking back towards our circle in the woods.

So I started walking with him, delighted to have found something that made Silver feel some emotion besides annoyance or boredom. But at the same time there was a twinge at the bottom of my stomach. That confused me a bit.

Why was some part of me unhappy when I had succeeded in revealing Silver's gooey center so quickly?

**(Gold's POV)**

"I've had girls chase me before, but they usually give up by this point." I called to Super Serious Gal, who was still running after me while I practically flew on my skateboard.

I was sure she'd been chasing me for over forty five minutes, and it was some feat that she was still after me. I mean, a girl with long legs versus me on a skateboard? Not much competition.

She glared at me, too out of breath to yell back. Okay, this is no longer fun. I skidded to a stop and let her catch up to me, but she was clearly way too tired to do anything. "Gold…you…bastard…" she panted, taking in huge gulps of air between each word.

"Whatever, Super Serious Gal. But right now you're a damsel in distress and I'm going to be your prince." I replied, still standing on my skateboard.

"I…am not…a damsel…in distress…and…you…are no…prince." She said, leaning against the wall of a Mexican restaurant for support.

"You're in danger of passing out from exhaustion so I'm taking you back to our circle." Without another word I picked her up bridal style and took off towards our circle.

It took her a few minutes to regain enough of her energy to react to what was going on. Once she did she shrieked in fear, wrapped her arms around my neck and hid her face against my chest. "I hate skateboards! Put me down!"

"Just leave a pretty thing like you for the criminals to catch? No way!" I teasingly pulled at one of her ponytails.

Her whole body stiffened. "Oh my god what did you get sent here for?"

I shrugged. "A rival of mine got caught breaking into a top-secret lab and some retarded police officer shot him in the stomach. When I found out why my rival was in the hospital I went the police station and used my billiard cue and fists to beat the living crap out of the guy."

She sighed in what I'm guessing was exasperation. "You could've got in a lot of trouble for beating up a police officer, Gold."

"I'm here, aren't I?" I replied. "So what did you do?"

"I kicked a boy in the head and cracked his skull." She replied.

I stared at her in shock for a second before responding. "Now I'm really glad I saw your leg coming when you tried to kick me earlier."

"No need to get worked up. I didn't put enough strength into that kick to break your leg, just bruise it." She sounded a bit smug.

"Jeez Super Serious Gal, I sure didn't expect you to be so dangerous!" I teased.

"If I threaten to kick you again will you let me off this stupid skateboard?"

"Hmm…nope." I said, pulling her closer to me. She squeaked in protest and I snickered softly. "Relax, Super Serious Gal! I'm not gonna run us into a tree."

"We're already in the woods?" She said, surprised.

"We've been in the woods for the past five minutes, which you would know if you'd bother to look up." I said.

"I already told you, I hate skateboards!" She replied, her face bright red. "Not to mention I am not happy with this position!"

"I like it." I replied, running a hand through her hair. "Besides, I just picked it up. You're the one who decided to cling to me like your life depended on it."

That comment turned me into the target of every insultCrystalcould think of for the rest of the ride back. I smirked: it's been a while since a girl's been this resistant to my charms. But in the end, they never hold out very long.

***Collapses* No more shipping requests! I now know that those don't work for me, I need to do things my way. Yeah, this chapter's about the same length as the previous one, maybe a paragraph or so shorter. And for those of you who can't tell Gold's just flirting, and he's always had very interesting methods of doing things. I knew I said I was going to do oldrivalshipping but it didn't end up working so none of that in this chapter! The next chapter will probably be specialshipping, and the first chapter will hopefully be rewritten at some point in the near future. Now if you'll excuse me I have to move to a new location before Blue finds me.**

**-Hero of the Dark**


	5. Chapter 5: Breakfast at Wally's

**Hello, ever patient readers! *dodges knives* Yes, I know I haven't updated for around two months and I'm REALLY, REALLY SORRY. And I really don't have a good excuse. Anyways, I also noticed something else: though I said each house has five members, the house Red is in has seven '-.-…I've come up with a (rather pathetic) explanation that will apear later in this chapter to move Sapphire and Ruby to another house. Speaking of houses, here are the house arrangements for Flower Circle (the circle all our pokedex holders are in)!**

**Rose House-Red, Yellow, Blue, Crystal, and Black**

**Violet House-White, Pearl, Silver, Dia, and Platinum **

**Magnolia House-Gold, Soul, Emerald, and Cheren **

**Daisy House-Sapphire, Ruby, Bianca, Wally and Green**

**And yes I know Magnolia House is a person short…please ignore that. Anyways, Yellow do the disclaimer!**

**Yellow: *jumps in surprise* H-hero of the Dark doesn't own pokemon or any of its characters, but she does own Four Towers.**

**Me: Good girl! **

**Breakfast at Wally's**

**Or**

**Adding Manzai to Injury!**

**(Yellow's POV)**

I wasn't sure quite what to expect when I walked into the living room in my uniform the next morning. Blue and Crystal were already downstairs in their new uniforms. The school uniform consisted of a white, button-up polo, plaid tie, and our choice of a plaid skirt or black slacks.

Blue had, unsurprisingly, chosen the shortest skirt available. Crystal's skirt was also relatively short, which was surprising. I guess the shorter the skirt the easier to kick somebody. Blue looked up as I entered the room and squealed. "Oh, Yellow you look adorable! Come sit with me." She was sitting on the couch with the school guide in one hand.

Before I could move towards or away from her Black ran down the stairs like a gust of wind. "Good morning, Yellow!" He yelled as he ran by me. He grabbed a piece of toast, stuck it in his mouth, and headed down the hallway to the front door.

Crystal, who was setting up breakfast on the living room table, and I stood in shock for a moment. Blue giggled. "Black agreed to walk to school with White today at 7:30 sharp." She pointed at the clock next to her, which declared that the time was 7:31.

"Oh…" I said. "How did you know that, Blue?"

"I have my sources." Blue said, then turned to look at Crystal. "So are you walking to school with Gold, Crystal?"

Crystal froze for a full five seconds. Then she picked up a butter knife and calmly said. "I do believe I asked you not to mention that punk." I backed into the doorway in an attempt to stay away from Crystal who was beginning to emit an aura of murder.

I didn't get very far before I ran back-first into someone. "O-oh, sorry!" I turned around to find myself face to face with Red.

"Don't worry about it, Yellow!" He said, cheerfully. "What were you backing away from?"

"C-crystal. Blue starting teasing her about s-some boy named Gold and Crystal got r-really mad." I could feel a light blush tinge my cheeks. Why Red? Out of all of my housemates it had to be the kindest, sweetest one of the bunch.

"Oh…well in that case maybe we should go eat with one of the other houses." Red looked warily into the living room.

I blinked in surprise. "We're allowed to do that?"

"I don't know why not." Red replied. "Let's take the back door." And with that he grabbed me by the hand a led me down the hallway, not giving me a chance to see what was going on in the living room.

The back door led out into a maze-like rose garden that we had yet to find the center of. "This way." Red said, avoiding the garden completely and walking around the side of the house. I just nodded and followed.

We walked out from behind the house, getting a few glares from students standing on their porches, and I instinctively cowered behind Red. He smiled down at me. "Relax, Yellow! They're not gonna hurt you."

"A-are you sure?" I buried my face into the back of his shirt.

"Positive. Now come on, we're here." He took me by the hand and led me up the steps to the Daisy House, which was painted a pleasant yellow color. You could almost believe it wasn't a house filled with juvenile delinquents. Red knocked on the door.

A minute later we heard a crash from inside the house. A second later a blonde haired girl opened the door. She only looked to be around fourteen or fifteen, and had apparently tripped over a cabinet and sent it tumbling on her way to the door. She smiled at us. "Hi there! I'm Bianca. Who are you?"

"I'm Red, and this is Yellow." The boy said as I slowly let go of his shirt. This girl didn't seem very dangerous. "One of our house members is…uh…mad so we were wondering if we could eat over here?" He gave her a sweet, hopeful smile.

Bianca shrugged. "I don't see why not!" She opened the door wide, and kicked the fallen cabinet to the side. "I'd reckon this place is built the same as your house, so just find the living room. It's Wally's turn to make breakfast!" With that she skipped off. Not walked, skipped.

I looked up at Red and he shrugged. "I guess we better go to the living room."

Bianca was right: our house and theirs were built the same, besides the fact everything was daisy themed while our house was rose themed. We quickly reached the living room to see Ruby sitting on the couch while another boy read a book in a chair nearby. "Hi, Ruby. How are things over here?" I said, smiling at the boy.

Ruby smiled back. "Hi Yellow, hi Red! And things are fine. Luckily there are no crazy matchmakers over here, though Blue does visit a lot to pester Green." The fashion-aware teen nodded his head at the boy with the book, who had yet to acknowledge us. It turned out that Ruby and Sapphire were supposed to be in Daisy House, but Blue had dragged them over to Rose House so she could film them without being accused of breaking and entering.

I smiled. "Well that's good. How's Sapphire?"

Ruby shook his head in annoyance. "I went shopping for uniforms with her yesterday and she insisted on getting pants instead of skirts! She's not supposed to do that, it completely goes against the rules of school fashion."

"Hey, sissy boy!" A voice called from far off, followed by the sound of feet running down stairs.

"Speak of the devil…" Ruby muttered to himself. "And in five…four…three…two…one." He flicked his finger at the door, and as if on cue Sapphire burst into the room.

"Sissy boy! I'm hungry!" She complained, practically jumping onto the couch next to Ruby.

Ruby glared at her. "Sapphire! We have guests!"

"Huh?" She looked up and seemed to notice us for the first time. She grinned. "Yellow! Red!" She jumped up and pulled us into a group hug. "I've missed you two! Why didn't you say you were coming?"

"Sapphire…I can't…breathe." Red managed to gasp out. I could only squeak slightly.

"Oh, whoops!" She let go of us and we collapsed to the ground. "Sorry."

"No…problem." Red said.

"Breakfast is ready!" Came a voice from the kitchen. The door opened and two teens came out, each carrying a plate of food. I recognized the girl in front as Bianca, but the green-haired boy behind her was a stranger.

The two set down plates of food on the table. "Hi." The green haired boy said to us. "I'm Wally. It's nice to meet you." He pulled a stack of plates off one of the trays and passed them out to everybody. "Just make a plate a sit somewhere."

I nodded meekly and waited until our hosts had made their plates before looking at Red. "A-are you going to go next?"

He shrugged. "Ladies first."

I blushed a little at the cliché line, then went and quickly put a small amount of food on my plate. I don't really eat much. I looked around the room and seeing an empty seat on the coach, sat down next to Bianca. Red sat next to me a minute later and began devouring his food like her hadn't eaten in weeks. I couldn't help but admire the way the light caught his cheekbones, or the syrup dribbling down his chin.

"Hey, Yellow!" I blinked out of Red Land to see said boy looking at me with concern. "Are you okay? You haven't touched your food."

It felt like my face was in fire. "Y-yeah. I'm fine." I picked up my fork and took a bite of the eggs, which were surprisingly good.

"Well if you say so…" he replied, eyebrows still furrowed with concern. He then turned back to his food, picked up a sausage, and bit half of it off in one bite. I couldn't help but feel a little sick. I was a strict vegetarian.

I finished my food and smiled up at Wally. "Thank you for breakfast, Wally. It was very good."

"No problem! I'm glad you liked it." Wally replied, smiling cheerfully.

"Wally is the best cook in the house! Right, sissy boy who can't cook?" Sapphire said, turning to Ruby.

Ruby bristled. "It's not my fault the stove caught on fire! There was something wrong with it!"

"But we still had ta spend an hour airin out the house, which was borin' and annoying." Sapphire said in response.

"Oh, NO." Bianca said, glaring at the two. "You are not having one of your fights this early in the morning!"

"Bianca it's already" Ruby check his watch and stared. "7:50! Class starts in ten minutes! We're all going to be late!" With that he got up and darted out of the room. The rest of us followed soon after, breaking more than a few plates in our wake. Who knows what they do to students who're late here?

Well I guess we'll find out in a few minutes, won't we?

**(Pearl's POV)**

"Dia, hurry up!" I shouted back at my best friend. "Class starts n five minutes!"

"I'm coming." He called back. Just our luck the school would be located on top of a steep hill. Sure it had stairs, but with how slow Dia moves? We are getting NOWHERE.

"For crying out loud Dia, the rich girl moves faster than you!" I complained, jumping up and down on top of the hill. But I accidentally moved forward while doing so. So when I hit the ground my foot was only halfway on the top of the stairs and I started stumbling. I fell down at lest five stairs before I came to a stop, landing clear on my face.

"Pearl!" Dia said, clearly concerned. I heard him speed up and a second later he was helping me to my feet. "Are you okay?"

"Everything's blurry." I said, blinking a few times in the hope of the colors going back together like they were supposed to.

"Don't worry Pearl, I'll get you to the nurse! Uh…do we have a Nurse?" He grabbed me by my arms and started trying to pull me up the steps.

"Dia?" This voice was clearly female, and came from the top of the stairs. "I heard a loud sound from the hallway on my way to class. What happened to Pearl?"

"Little Miss!" Dia said, clearly relived. "Pearl fell down the stairs. Do you know where the nurse is?"

"Of course. Stay here, I will be back as soon as possible." The door shut again.

"Pearl? Is everything still blurry?" Dia asked, setting me back down on the stairs.

"No…it's still kinda blurry but it's mostly black." There was a steady pounding in the back of my head, like someone was repeatedly hitting it with a war hammer. I blinked slowly a few more times and everything went black.

When I woke up, the first thing I was aware of was the bed underneath me. I squinted my eyes open, only to slam them shut when they were blinded by light. It took a few more times until I was used to it. Once I was I opened them fully to see the white ceiling above me. "Ugh…" I groaned, trying to ignore the faint pounding in my head. "W…what happened?"

"Oh, you're awake!" A pink haired woman in a nurse uniform appeared in my line of vision. "Here, let me help you up." She pulled out a remote and pressed one of the buttons. The top half of the bed slowly lifted up like those weird hospital beds.

"Wait a minute…" I said. "This IS a hospital bed! What am I doing in a hospital bed?"

"Don't you remember? You feel down the stairs and gave yourself a mild concussion." The nurse said, sitting down in a chair next to me. "You're in the medical room." She gestured at the long line of white beds on both sides of the long room. Mine was the only one occupied.

"Oh…" I said. "Did Dia get to class okay?"

"Yes. Both of your friends was late, but I told Professor Erika and she understood. They've been checking on you in between periods." The nurse explained.

"Oh well that's ni- WHAT DO YOU MEAN BOTH OF MY FRIENDS?"

"Calm down, Pearl! You'll spike your blood pressure." The nurse put a firm hand on my arm, forcing it to stop shaking. "And by that I mean Dia and Missy. Or at least that's what he called her. They were both very concerned about you."

"Missy visited? Well that's a bit of a surprise." I mused to myself.

"They'll be here soon. The bell just rang. As a matter of fact I have a feeling that's what woke you up. You've been out for the entire morning." The nurse got up and walked away, leaving me to sit alone and be bored.

Luckily I didn't have to wait long. Only a bit over a minute later the Nurse opened the door again and both Dia and Missy entered the room. "Pearl!" Dia said as they both walked over to me. "You're awake!"

"Yep! So how's class?" I asked, looking up at my friend.

"It's pretty good. I've been having some trouble getting around though, so Missy has been helping me." He pointed at Missy, who had set herself down in the nurse's chair.

"Really?" I looked over at her. "Well thanks, I guess."

"It was not a problem, Pearl. We have most of the same classes together anyways." She replied. "I am glad that you are feeling better."

I smirked at her. "Ha! You were concerned about me! That proves you're not a total ice princess!"

She frowned. "No I wasn't."

"Yes you were."

"Wait! Please don't fight!" Dia protested. "It was sweet of Little Miss to care."

Missy blinked a few times. "Thank you, Dia. And if a may ask, why do you call me Little Miss?"

Dia seemed to think about it for a minute, then shrugged. "Well you wouldn't tell us your name. And you're a miss and you're young so…Little Miss! Or Missy for short."

Missy looked at him strangely for a minute, then smiled. "That will do. After all you will need to call me something if you two are to be my bodyguards."

I looked at her blankly for a minute. "Bodybguards?"

She nodded. "Of course. This is a school for juvenile delinquints. I come from a very rich family, and if I wish to avoid being attacked I believe I will need bodyguards. You two are members of my house, and do not seem like the kind of people who would attack me."

I looked at Dia, and he shrugged. I looked back at Missy. "Okay, we'll do it. But first, we have to show you something."

Missy blinked a few times. "Very well. What is it you wish to show me?"

I locked eyes with Dia, and we both smiled before shouting in unison. "Speaking of High School!"

**There! Done! I liked the ending besides the fact this world doesn't have pokemon so I had to use a substitute for the opening line of Dia and Pearl's manzai. Until next time (which hopefully won't be nearly as long)!**

**-Hero of the Dark**


	6. IMPORTANT NOTICE

Look, guys, this story started out strong but I'm not feeling it anymore. Instead I'm turning my efforts onto a new story of mine. The plot's better, the characters are my own, and it's just fun for me. But if you're interested in adopting this story, pleas IM me. If I decide to give it to you I'll tell you the main idea and let you do what you wish from there.

Signing out,

-Hero of the Dark


	7. Update: Let's Give This Another Shot

Okay guys, I'm sure you've all abandoned this story by now. But looking back on it I realize this is an idea I like and, after giving it to two people for adoption and then having neither of them start it...I think I'm gonna give it another go. With any luck chapter 6 will be out soon.

To any of my old reviewers who actually see and read this, you are made of awesome. See ya soon.

-Hero of the Dark


	8. Chapter 6: The Girl of My Nightmares

**I never thought I'd be updating this story again, let alone so quickly! Anyways, this is mostly a franticshipping chapter with a healthy dose of agencyshipping. Now Ruby, do the disclaimer!**

**Ruby: *looks up from grooming his pokemon, smiles at the camera* Hero of the Dark does not own pokemon or any of its characters. However she does own Four Towers and the plot.**

**The Girl of My Nightmares**

**or**

**Ruby the Couch Cushion!**

**(White's POV)**

I listened intently as the theater teacher, Mr. Wallace, continued his lecture. He was practically dancing around the stage while he talked but I didn't really mind. Beside me one of the other kids from my circle, a boy named Ruby, was listening just as intently. The rest of the room seem bored.

"And no matter what, everything must fit together. Like pieces of a puzzle! You can't end a suicide with the dead boy's girlfriend smiling happily, unless there's some reasoning behind it."

I kept writing, copying down every word he said. I didn't think the theater industry would ever be open for me again, but a girl can hope. The bell rang. I already had most of my things packed and easily stuck my notebook and pencil in. I pulled my bag up and left, heading straight towards to science department.

"White!" Sure enough, Black had met me halfway. "School's out! How was theater?"

"It was interesting." I said. "Though today was just the basics. How was chemistry?"

Black nervously scratched his ear. "Er...I didn't set the lab on fire?"

I rolled my eyes. "Honestly, Black! If you would just pay attention you wouldn't have these problems."

He shrugged. "Sorry, White." He looked around conspiratorially before leaning in close and whispering. "You know Sapphire, the girl from our circle?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I've met her." With her athletic ability and bright eyes all she needed was some good conditioner and she'd be great in a sci-fi movie. Moving on. "What about her?"

"We got partnered up in chemistry class because we're in the same circle or something like that. She fell asleep, and I didn't really care until she started squirming and muttering under her breath. She looked pretty freaked out, and I paid too much attention to her and let the chemicals boil until I noticed the smell of sulfur..." he shook his head. "Anyways I think something's up with her. I think there's something up with a lot of our circlemates."

I nodded in agreement. "You're right. Someone could write a manga about us and our problems."

"What did ya say, White?"

"Nothing, Black. I was just talking to myself."

"Well if you say so." He turned and glared at a boy who'd been ogling my butt. I didn't see the look, but it must have been pretty scary as the boy ran off with his tail between his legs.

"Thanks." I said as we headed for the lockers occupied by members of Flower Circle. Apparently your circle was a pretty big deal.

"No problem" Black smiled at me before pulling me out of the way of one of our circlemates darting past on a skateboard. Angered shrieking came from the girl he'd apparently snatched, who clearly didn't approve of this mode of transportation.

She saw us and instantly made eye contact with Black. "Do something!"

"That's my housemate. Let's go!" Black grabbed me by the hand and darted after the pair.

Somewhere, a figure watched them on a small TV screen. He scribbled something on a clipboard and changed the screen to another hallway.

**(Ruby's POV)**

I had been the first to arrive back at Daisy House by a good bit, taking advantage of the time to shower and change into my usual clothes. I was sitting on the couch watching Project Runway when Green sat down in his usual chair, pulling a book out of his bag. "Sherlock?" I asked. He nodded. "I'm not surprised." Noncommittal grunt. Well so much for communication between housemates. I turned back to my show and kept watching until the door slammed.

I sighed and sure enough a tanned hand tried to snatch the remote. I moved it out of her reach and kept watching. "Give me the remote! This show is stupid!" Sapphire whined.

"It's almost over. You'll live for a few minutes." She scowled and tackled me.

After a minute Sapphire sat up victorious. She pointed the remote at the TV and changed it to some zombie movie. Project Runway had ended a minute ago and I would've done little more than grumble about this under normal circumstances. But there was one little detail.

"Sapphire?"

"Yeah?"

"I am not a couch cushion." She looked down at me from where she was sitting on the middle of my back and laughed. I would've complained about her being heavy if I didn't know she'd beat my head in for it. I sighed and pulled out my phone, accepting my fate until my other housemates arrived.

I was still playing Tetris when the door opened again and Bianca came in, instantly scolding Sapphire about using me as a couch cushion. It took a while but she eventually got off.

I sat up and dusted my clothes off. "Look at what you've done! My clothes are all wrinkled!" Sapphire was too busy following the combat on the screen to respond.

It was the final battle or something like that, with a group of men and scantily clad woman, all with chainsaws or baseball bats or other weapons fighting off a massive hoard of zombies in a burning lab. I could see a few human-looking bodies on the ground, being devoured. The sight was gruesome and the special effects were mediocre at best, yet somehow it held her rapt attention.

I don't understand her. Normally girls are easy for me to understand, but I just don't get her. There was some explosion and all the zombies suddenly exploded into ash, leaving the group bloody and panting. For a second there was joy, then they all found bite marks on them and the credits started rolling.

Sapphire didn't seem at all bothered by this. She just started channel flipping. "Most girls would find that movie scary." I said after a minute. Green had left at some point, leaving us alone in the room.

"I'm not most girls." She grinned at me. "I'm not scared of nothin'!"

Liar. I could see it in her eyes, but I didn't mention it. After a minute I looked at the clock and got to my feet. "I guess I better start working on dinner."

Sapphire turned off the TV and joined me in the kitchen. "What are you doing?" She rolled her eyes at me and pulled out a cookbook labeled _The Food of Southern Hoenn_.

"Making sure ya don't set the stove on fire again!" Sapphire said, setting the book down and flipping through a few pages before shouting "aha!" I turned to see she had apparently picked a recipe: some type of beef stew. "I used to make this all the time with papa!"

"You used to cook?" Her look warned me not to push it.

"Go get stuff from the town market." She pulled a large pot out of the cabinet. "We got most of it, but I need fresh beef and corn."

"As you wish, princess." Her head jerked up in response to the nickname, but I'd already left the room.

I came back about half an hour later to find the pot full of boiling broth filling the air with a lovely aroma. "Sissy boy!" I turned to see Sapphire cutting onions, though she didn't seem to be doing a very good job of it. "Put the stuff over there." She nodded to an empty spot and I did as I was told before snatching the knife out of her hand and finishing cutting the onion in seconds.

She stared at it in shock for a moment before getting the beef and putting it in a frying pan.

After dinner and a bit of homework everyone was either heading off to bed or taking advantage of not having a lights out time by playing on the computers or watching TV. I headed to bed, I needed my beauty sleep after all!

Hours later I woke up to the sound of Bianca creeping down the hallway. I checked the clock- it was three am- and pulled my covers off. I re positioned my hat to make sure it covered my head properly before turning the light on. "Bianca what are you doing at this time of night?" I asked, not bothering to get up from my bed.

Bianca froze. "Ah, crap! Sorry but it's kind of private, Ruby."

"It's not private if you get caught." I said, now interested. "I won't tell. What is it?"

She hesitated for a moment before rushing into my room and sitting down on the edge of the bed. "Okay but please don't tell!" She said, looking around warily. "Okay, so apparently Black was partners with Sapphire in chemistry class and she fell asleep. Pretty quickly she started squirming and muttering, he thought she might be having a nightmare but he got distracted by chemicals before he could wake her up. He asked me to check in on her to see if these are a regular thing."

I sighed and stood up, brushing off my pajama pants as I went. "Well then I might as well come too."

She looked like she was going to protest but I had already entered the hallway. It didn't take long to reach Sapphire's room. I slowly opened the door with Bianca standing behind me, ready to dart at a moment's notice.

There was no need. Sapphire was fast asleep, the covers bunched around her like a cocoon.

At first glance she seemed fine. Bianca assumed this meant all was well and left. I stayed, thinking. After a minute I slowly walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. Sure enough, if I listened I could hear it. Her breath was shallow and fast while she muttered something in a panicked voice. It was too soft for me to hear, but she seemed pretty upset. I could faintly see tears brimming in her eyes and sweat running down her scalp.

I looked at her silently for a minute before, completely on impulse, reaching out and gently running a hand through her hair. I did that for a few minutes with little results. She muttered something a bit louder as she slowly began to curl into a ball.

I sighed and took her hand, squeezing it gently. After this also had no effect I pulled my hand back and watched her for a minute. Evidently I could do nothing about this. I stood up and left, leaving her to her nightmares.

**I didn't expect to finish this so soon! Well, whatever. I hope you enjoyed!**

**-Hero of the Dark**


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